Website Detail Page

Physics Olympiad Exams

published by
the American Association of Physics Teachers

The Physics Olympiad Screening Exams are used each year by the American Association of Physics Teachers to help select members for the United State Physics Team. Each year there are two or three rounds of exams consisting of both multiple choice and open response questions. The exams cover a broad range of topics in physics including mechanics, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics, waves, and optics.

The exams linked below provide examples of the Olympiad screening tests from several previous years. In most cases both exams and exams with solutions are provided.

2008 Olympiad F=ma Preliminary TestIn order to access this file, please Login to the PSRC collection.
This is the preliminary US Physics Olympiad contest for 2008. Solutions are provided on the final page.
.pdf file (148 kb Adobe PDF Document)
Rights: Copyright AAPT. Freely available for non-commercial use with attribution.
Published: January 1, 2008

2008 Olympiad Quarter Final SolutionsIn order to access this file, please Login to the PSRC collection.
This file contains the solutions to the open-response quarter-final questions for the US Physics Olympic Team.
.pdf file (86 kb Adobe PDF Document)
Rights: Copyright AAPT. Freely available for non-commercial use with attribution.
Published: January 1, 2008

2008 Olympiad Semi Final QuestionsIn order to access this file, please Login to the PSRC collection.
This file contains the open-response semi-final questions from the 2008 US Physics Olympics Team selection.
.pdf file (100 kb Adobe PDF Document)
Rights: Copyright AAPT. Freely available for non-commercial use with attribution.
Published: January 1, 2008

2008 Olympiad Semi Final SolutionsIn order to access this file, please Login to the PSRC collection.
This file contains the solutions to the open-response semi-final questions from the 2008 Physics Olympics Team selection competition
.pdf file (141 kb Adobe PDF Document)
Rights: Copyright, AAPT. Freely available for non-commercial use with attribution.
Published: January 1, 2008

2007 Olympiad TestsIn order to access this file, please Login to the PSRC collection.
This archive contains all the tests used for the 2007 US Physics Olympics selection. It includes the preliminary and semi-final tests and the solutions.
.zip file (410 kb Compressed File)
.pdf file (458 kb Adobe PDF Document)
Rights: Copyright AAPT. Freely available for non-commercial use with attribution.
Published: January 1, 2007

User comments (4)

Questions show remarkable ignorance of physics

Author: Nona Busen
Posted: December 22, 2011 at 1:54PM

I worked through the first dozen questions of the 2007 test, and I'm dismayed at how little knowledge of physics the question-writers appear to have had. Calling gravitational binding energy "gravitational potential energy" is not a trivial mistake (question 8), nor is asking a question about what happens during a specific time period, and then expecting an answer about what has happened in total from zero to the end of that time period (question 4).

These tests are useless for learners, and their only use for educators would be as a potential source for sample questions.

Re: Questions show remarkable ignorance of physics

Nona, the US Physics Olympics Team, the source of these tests, is organized by the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Institute of Physics each year, with the tests provided here written by experienced physicists and physics teachers. The results of these tests have been quite good, with the US Physics Team doing well in international competitions. I don't know precisely the way the tests are written and approved, but I'm sure they are carefully vetted. They are provided mostly for teachers to use in their classes.

As to your specific questions, the term "gravitational potential energy" is standard for the gravitational energy between objects and is used in most textbooks. The question about what happens in a second time period given a first time period is a standard conceptual question that tests student understanding of kinematics.

> On Dec 22, 2011, Nona Busen posted:> > I worked through> the first dozen questions of the 2007 test, and I'm> dismayed at how little knowledge of physics the question-writers> appear to have had. Calling gravitational binding> energy "gravitational potential energy" is not a trivial> mistake (question 8), nor is asking a question about> what happens during a specific time period, and then> expecting an answer about what has happened in total> from zero to the end of that time period (question 4). > > > These tests are useless for learners, and their> only use for educators would be as a potential source> for sample questions.

Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.